Exciting news: my hometown, Moline, Illinois*, was named in the top 5 of the prestigious OffbeatTravel’s list of “the most interesting and quirky towns in the country”:
“This is our inaugural offering of the top five offbeat places to visit over the next 12 months,” said Neala Schwartzberg, publisher of the respected website www.OffbeatTravel.com.
“We thought it was time – we had all these interesting, unusual, quirky towns and wanted to let travelers know about them” said Schwartzberg. “We like the small gems, the places fewer people have experienced, but many would enjoy,” said Schwartzberg.
The other cities included are Taos, New Mexico, Hanelei, Hawaii, Fort Collins, Colorado and Dahlonega, Georgia.
According to the site, the main attraction in Moline is our association with John Deere:
The city of Moline is John Deere central – complete with Deere family homes, the world headquarters for Deere & Company, John Deere Pavilion, and the Collectors Center, even the John Deere Plaza in the center of town. It’s all unexpectedly good fun, especially climbing up the metal behemoth farm equipment.
Woo hoo! Look at tractors, climb on tractors, visit the homes of the dead people who built the tractors. Now that’s what I call a vacation.
*I’m not actually from Moline but it is one of the five cities that make up the Quad-Cities (don’t ask, because I don’t get that either).
March 1, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Quirky is good. There are a lot of folks in my neck of the woods that revere the Deere.
March 1, 2008 at 9:47 pm
You know who rides on tractors?
Hunky farmers.
March 2, 2008 at 7:52 am
SD: I suppose so but living here almost my entire life, it doesn’t seem very quirky or fun (Although the JD Admin Building (designed by Eero Saarinen) and grounds are absolutely stunning)
QJ: True, but no one rides these tractors. Your chances are better if you hang out at the farm implement dealer.